Proposed federal Medicaid changes could threaten care for vulnerable Oklahomans

A proposed federal bill that could reshape Medicaid funding has advocates in Oklahoma sounding the alarm over potential cuts that could impact the state's most vulnerable residents.

Longtime disability and healthcare advocates said changes under discussion in Washington could reduce Oklahoma's share of federal medicaid support, with consequences for families relying on care at home.

Provider fees in the spotlight

Wanda Felty, Assistant Director of the Center for Learning and Leadership, pointed to a provision that would have eliminated or slashed the Medicaid fee paid by Oklahoma healthcare providers. Though that piece appears to have been pulled from the bill for now, Felty said any cuts to the federal match would hit rural and underserved areas the most.

"In Oklahoma, we call it a fee," Felty said. "Our medical association and providers decided to do this, to help our state out, to be able to ensure those people in rural Oklahoma had access to healthcare."

Past cuts offer a warning for future action

Roseanne Duplan, Police and Communications Director at the Disability Law Center, warned that Oklahoma has already seen the consequences of funding shortfalls. Duplan pointed to the 2017 Medicaid budget deficit when the state responded by cutting supposedly "optional" services. These services include in-home supports for seniors and people with disabilities.

"Everyone on those in-home support programs received a notice of termination that those services would go away because we didn't have the money to fund them," Duplan said. "Whenever we've seen that the state has a deficit in their state share of that Medicaid money, because it is a shared responsibility."

Calls for lawmakers to protect vulnerable Oklahomans

Felty and Duplan urged lawmakers, particularly Sen. James Lankford, to protect long-term community-based services in any final version of the legislation.

"If you do not put those protections in there and make sure the funding is available to the state, then the optional benefits will have to go away," Felty said. "So please never forget the people who are most vulnerable."

Deplan echoed Felty's message, appealing to what has become known as the Oklahoma standard.

"We are known for taking care of each other. And these are our neighbors," Duplan said. "These are our parents, our grandparents, our children who stand to lose services, and I would just remind [Lankford] that we need to keep that Oklahoma standard."